Stolen Alaska Air plane exposes aviation’s blind spots

Airlines in addition to airports need workers to have ready access to their equipment in addition to the airfield, which is usually essential to their work. The unusual incident showed the limits of securing facilities, as well as in monitoring employees in addition to addressing potential mental health issues, experts told CNBC.

“The physical security layers from the airport are not designed to protect (against) which,” said Jeff cost, an aviation security consultant, professor at the Metropolitan State University in Denver in addition to a former airport ramp worker. Some measures to avoid which kind of incident are from the hiring process in addition to psychological evaluations, cost said, while those are not always foolproof.

Executives said the employee had passed background checks, in addition to which he did not have a pilot license.

The employee used a tow to turn the plane around 180 degrees before he taxied to a runway, the company said. After taking off, made dramatic loops from the air before which crashed, video shot by onlookers showed.

“We don’t know how he learned to do which,” said Horizon’s CEO Gary Beck, about how the employee came to operate the aircraft, noting the ignition on a plane isn’t like which of a car. A Q400 captain at another airline, who declined to provide a name because the person is usually not authorized to speak to the media, told CNBC which the process of starting up the plane is usually complex.

Getting one of nearly two-dozen steps wrong in starting up the airplane would certainly immediately derail which, which person said. However, opening aircraft doors is usually far less challenging, cost in addition to the captain noted.

Authorities have made alterations to better screen pilots for mental health problems, after a pilot intentionally crashed a Germanwings jet into a mountainside in March 2015, killing all 150 on board. The European Commission last month adopted completely new rules, which take effect in 2020, which require airlines to psychologically screen pilots.

The Q400 captain who spoke to CNBC in addition to flies in North America, said which routine health screenings since which the Germanwings crash do include some questions about pilots’ mental state. However, the incident on Friday is usually a rare in addition to difficult issue to address.